ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — A man said he was trying to create homemade fireworks after police found bomb-making materials in an Englewood garage on Thursday, according to an arrest affidavit.
Around 4 p.m. on June 29, an officer with the Englewood Police Department responded to a report of an explosion along the 4900 block of S. Delaware Street. As officers drove to the location, dispatch informed them that police had responded to the home on June 26 — just a few days prior — due to a person setting off explosives in the backyard, according to an arrest affidavit.
The Denver Fire Department was also dispatched to the scene.
The first officer to arrive found one male in the garage, Michael Lubotsky, 50, and another in the backyard, Brian Gessing, 50. A vehicle in the alleyway appeared to have blown its radiator, the officer noted. The men said the car, a white 2017 Kia Forte with a Colorado license plate, was not theirs.
The officer saw the keys in the ignition. The radiator cap had been removed and coolant had spilled out the top. The officer also saw a clear glass smoking pipe in the center console in clear view. Brown residue was inside the pipe, according to the affidavit.
The Kia was registered to a person who lived in Centennial. Police later tried to get in contact with that individual and while they were unable to connect with them, they learned the person had been in rehabilitation for two days. A family member of the vehicle owner picked up the car. Police believe the owner and Gessing knew each other and don't believe the car was stolen, according to the affidavit.
Gessing told police that he had met a friend, whom he did not name, in Littleton a couple days prior to borrow the Kia. When asked about the pipe, Gessing said it was not his and he did not know what the residue was.
He was taken into custody around 4:35 p.m. During this, the officer found "what appeared to be a homemade explosive device" in his pocket, according to the affidavit. He was transported to a holding area at the police department and later to the Arapahoe County Jail on a charge of possessing explosives.
When firefighters arrived, they smelled sulfur, which is consistent with an explosive. It appeared to be coming from the garage area. They found what appeared to be bomb-making materials in the garage in plain view, according to the affidavit.
Officers swept the rest of the garage and the house to ensure there were no other bombs. Two residents — neither suspected to be involved — and Lubotsky were told to stay in the backyard for their safety.
The Arapahoe County Bomb Squad was called to the home because of the "potential danger of an unknown amount of explosive," the affidavit reads.
When they arrived, they met with police and Lubotsky.
Lubotsky explained that he and another man wanted to try to build homemade fireworks using potassium nitrate, charcoal and cardboard tubes. They had mixed the substances to make gunpowder. He added that the white powdery substance on the floor of the garage had been there for about two days, according to the affidavit.
He said about 20 minutes before police arrived, Gessing stopped by the home to fill his radiator, he said.
When authorities went into the backyard, they saw a PVC pipe hanging from the garage roof and a battery-powered DeWalt cutting saw. The bomb technicians found a cut piece of white PVC pipe and clear plastic bag holding a gray substance and labeled "potassium nitrate technical grade granulated," the affidavit said.
Based on Lubotsky's statements and the evidence collected at the scene, police believed that he possessed and manufactured explosives. He was then taken into custody and jailed on a charge of knowingly possessing and manufacturing explosives.
Lubotsky was released on a $5,000 bond. Gessing remained in jail as of July 3.
